Customer self checkout systems are gaining in use among retailers. Such systems allow for a savings of labor costs by allowing customers to manage processing of transactions with little or no manual intervention by an employee of a retailer. A typical self checkout console allows a customer to enter items into a transaction, bag the items as they are entered, and tender payment at the conclusion of the transaction, all without intervention by an employee unless special assistance is needed. One frequently encountered obstacle to complete self service checkout is the purchase of age restricted merchandise, such as alcohol or tobacco products. The mechanisms for prevention of sales of age restricted products to minors are strictly prescribed, and typically require verification of documents bearing proof of age, or verification by a retailer employee that the purchaser meets the age requirements. Typical prior art self checkout consoles depend on manual intervention in order to perform age verification. One significant obstacle to automatic age verification includes the possibility of forgery or alteration of identification documents. Another obstacle includes the possibility of submission of an identification document that has been issued to someone other than the purchaser and is used by the purchaser to deceive the retailer into improperly selling merchandise to the purchaser.